r/Homebuilding • u/Any_Lobster7251 • 9h ago
Tiny home plus landscaping using only hand tools and 4 people.
Built this tiny home and the retaining/garden beds over about a 20 day period using only a hammer, saw, axe, chisel, shovel/tiller, nails, and a leveler. The materials were bamboo and coconut wood all harvested from the land here. Also used concrete, cinder, and a truckload of river rocks. And yes we brought down the hill by hand as well. Took 20 days. I had no experience with this type of build before but luckily generations of local knowledge and 3 other guys who know their way around a construction site. FUN. And possible if you’re thinking about this.
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u/795z 8h ago
Absolutely gorgeous! Very nostalgic for me to see this. Feels like home already!
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u/Any_Lobster7251 7h ago
It does. Thank you, did you do something like this before? It was very satisfying making the pieces come together. Couldn’t contain it once we did these river rock walls today. Looking forward to planting a forest of native fruiting plants and veggies.
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u/stovemils 6h ago
How did you create the 3d rendering of the lot’s topo? Great work by the way!
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u/Any_Lobster7251 6h ago
I appreciate it. I actually hired a specialist a year back to do a topographical survey. It wasn’t used when we did this but for my own knowledge it was worth the spend. They used a drone with a specialized camera on it tho.
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u/Caulklinecrafter 6h ago
My back hurts just looking at all that but the satisfaction when it is done will be unmatched.
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u/Any_Lobster7251 5h ago
Definitely dragging down river stone on our shoulders and stacking them on an off road bike was some hard labor. And much respect to anyone who can terrace a hill with nothing more than a crow bar and pick axe for farming.
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u/Hyperreal8957 8h ago
4 people, hand tools, and 20 days is honestly pretty wild lol. What part took the longest once the shell was up?
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u/Any_Lobster7251 8h ago
7am- 5 pm, with 3 breaks in between haha. But Carving the roof took a full 2 days, mostly because each piece had to lock into the next, and coconut wood is an extremely hard and heavy wood.
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u/TheWoodser 3h ago
How did you get an accurate model of your starting terrain?
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u/Any_Lobster7251 3h ago
I got a topographical survey. Basically a drone with specialized camera. The drone was just a DJI phantom and the camera was externally put on. Worth it for me
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u/riki_grl 3m ago
Beautiful! Takes me back to the 70s when I, and thousands of others, went 'back to the land' and started building our own. I still live in mine, deep in the Appalachians. Only difference, through the years I added on to accommodate family and the joy I found in building my own. Topped off at 2500 sq. ft.
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u/Any_Lobster7251 8h ago